Color mixing guide / For artists, painters, decorators, printing pressmen, show card writers, sign painters, color mixers. Gives color mixtures by parts

Chapter 2: WHAT IS COLOR?

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About This Book

The manual explains color as an effect of light and presents yellow, red and blue as primary pigments from which secondary and tertiary hues are produced. It provides practical mixing rules and proportions for obtaining tints, shades, warm and cool variations, and advises how to lighten, deepen or neutralize colors using white, black and complementary tones. The text distinguishes organic and inorganic pigments, discusses sources and the role of mordants, and offers selection guidance for applied trades. It notes color-blindness as an occupational consideration and highlights color harmony, recommending nature as a model for balanced combinations.

WHAT IS COLOR?

Color is an effect caused by the reflection of certain rays of light. In order to understand this statement, it is necessary that we know what light is. Science teaches us that light is a form of intense vibration which reaches the earth direct from the sun. These vibrations affect certain nerves of the retina of the eye, causing the sensation known as color.

In the study of color, or in practice, it is necessary that we have a standard. The standard colors are those seen in the spectrum or in the rainbow. These colors are selected as standard colors because they are the true colors as reflected by pure light and they never change.

In dealing with pigments the primary colors are yellow, red and blue. They are called primary colors because all other colors are produced from them, and because they can not be produced by mixing other colors. In other words, they are the original colors from which all other colors are produced.